Produced to raise funds for the wife and two children of popular comedian Yee Chau-shui who died almost penniless, Backyard Adventures is a remake of Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window (both films shared the same Chinese title.) Hitch’s film was released in Hong Kong in March, 1955. Backyard Adventures started pre-production in May-June and was completed and screened all over Hong Kong in few months’ time. Most important of all, it had a cast that virtually included all actors from both the Cantonese Cinema and Opera. The two Chans, father & son, collaborated with Leung Hoi-shan, to build a replica of the main set of Hitch’s film on the open lot next to Wader Studio, yet at the same time adapting it to meet the special environment of Hong Kong. Despite the similarities of the plot, Backyard was by and large stripped of Hitchcock’s obsession with the theme of voyeurism and moral ambiguities. It’s the everyday-life details and the feeling of easy familiarity with daily livelihood that ultimately make the film a far cry from Hollywood, and something that stands on itself assertively. This is also the best quality about Cantonese Cinema.

*1/9

(Sat)

2:00pm

Cinema, Hong Kong Film Archive

27/10

(Sat)

9:00pm

Cinema, Hong Kong Film Archive

* Post-screening talk with Wong Yan-kwai